Spain does look the favorites to win... But I hope Italy can put up a good show. They have a few young players that might want to prove a point and stake a claim ok the wc squad next year. Brazil will always be there so we arw back to the top european and south american teams again. But knowing competitions there are bound to be some surprises..... I hope

Yup Iraq did well last night as they defended in number. Gave very little space for the Spanish to play their game. To be honest I think Spain was abit sloppy last night with possesion especially at the final third of play. It goes to show a good organization is the way to go although Iraq is not a big footballing nation.

Saw this photo in the newspaper yesterday. Nothing unusual.It shows the Brazilian players appealing for a penalty which won them the match against Egypt in stoppage time.However, my version or what I see in the photo is:The Brazilian players doing the macarena dance as soon as they learned the referee awarded them the penalty in stoppage time.Sorry, just joking.

Iraq had no ambition at all, content in soaking up pressure and maybe counter-attacking Spain every once in a while. Having said that, Iraq is most probably playing to their strengths, given that the opposition is of such quality as Spain.

Vicente tried out another def pairing yesterday, Pique and Marchena in place of Puyol and Albiol. Expect to see wholesale changes for the last match, maybe Llorente to get a place in the starting line-up, as well as Guiza, Cazorla and Silva.

Yes Del Bosque in dilemma whether to maintain the unbeaten streak or resting his key players for the semis clash. I believe even a fringe Spanish side is capable of beating the host. After saying that the host would only need a point to qualify to semis.

It doesn't favor the Italian if I have to be honest after their shocking defeat to the hands of Egypt. They need to scored ensure that the Egyptian doesn't outscore them by more than 2 goals as they could leap frog them although if the Italian managed to beat Brazil.

USA managed to sneak in with an extra goal scored as opposed to Italy, with USA having scored 4 times, and Italy scoring only 3 times. USA and Italy both have -2 GD, with USA letting in 6 goals, and Italy 5 goals. If Italy had managed to score once, or even restrict Brazil to only 2 goals, then they would be in the SFs!

Again, Italy has flattered to deceive, not living up to the pre-match hype of being World Champions. Maybe the fact that the squad has been too reliant on the oldies like Cannavaro, Buffon, Pirlo, etc and a slow back 4 made them too vulnerable at the counter-attack, of which Brazil exploited to the fullest this morning. Anyway, one pre-tournament favourite is gone, leaving behind only Brazil and Spain to contest being the winner of CC 2009.